


Aquarium

by TheDeceivingMaiden



Category: Finding Paradise (Video Game), To The Moon (Video Game)
Genre: Aquariums, Complete, Cute Ending, Dating, Didn't Know They Were Dating, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Jellyfish, Marriage Proposal, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, hey it sounds right!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14905862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeceivingMaiden/pseuds/TheDeceivingMaiden
Summary: At first, Neil brought Eva to the aquarium to see that smile she had on when she saw the jellyfishes again. However, somehow they keep on coming back. Slowly it became a thing for them to come here to unwind, and become much more than they were now.





	Aquarium

**Author's Note:**

> This is supposed to be a simple proposal fic. How did it turn like this?
> 
> Keep in mind I wanted to keep adding a lot of moments they come back to the aquarium, however it just didn't flow so well, so I had to take some of them out.

During Colin Reed’s case, Neil saw something in Eva he hadn’t seen in a long time.

In the past, back when they were in high school together, Neil always saw Eva as someone who would stubbornly focus on her task. Even when she was under a lot of pressure from what she was doing, she rarely allowed herself to get distracted until she reached her goal. Neil had to admit it though, back then he thought Eva had a stick up her butt; but after getting to know her, he found out she had rare endearing moments. It was hard to see, but Neil saw how Eva would try to hide her amusements from time to time. Neil claimed he cured her serious illness once he saw her laugh aloud. Eva begged to differ.

But sadly, those rare moments were gone now. Ever since they started working at Sigmund, that hidden side of Eva seemed to have just disappeared. She was more focused than ever, but not in a good way. During the cases they worked on, she would do anything to get the results she wanted for her patients, even if she questioned the morals behind her actions. Even if the methods to grant those wishes were frowned upon on. And even if Neil disapproved of it.

But really, Neil knew she hated what she was doing. Heck, he was proven right when Eva confessed a bit during the Christmas Party as well. It was not only upsetting to Eva, but to Neil too. He may not say it he noticed, but he would still try to make her crack a smile again, in his own Neil Watts way. It was difficult, but it didn’t stop him from trying to be a clown for Eva’s sake.

But then that day, while working on Colin’s case, Neil finally saw it again. The way her eyes were wide open, with a bright smile on her face as she rushed towards the giant fish tank containing dozens of jellyfishes bobbing about. Neil couldn’t remember Eva ever squealing like that, and it was at that moment did she forget all about her job as a Sigmund Corporation’s Traversal Agent. It was only for a short time, but it was the longest time ever since Neil saw her smiling like that.

That’s why about a month since that case, Neil finally found the time to invite Eva out to the aquarium during their day off together. He explained she should really loosen up, and not just work on her vegetable garden during her breaks. That earned an eye roll from her, but at least she agreed to humour him.

In the end though, Eva really was the one humouring Neil. She was trying to hide it, but he could tell she was excited about their trip to the place. The way she stared in awe at everything around her – at every different kind of fish and underwater animals present, at colourful corals and the way the fishes swarm around them, and at the sight of the jellyfishes bobbing about in the water, it was something Neil would never forget. Not for a long time.

Especially when Eva thanked him. And admitted she had fun.

And goddammit, Neil had to quickly think up a witty comment to hide how pleased he was when she said that.

~.~.~.~.~

It took them nearly six months for them to come back for a second visit. Eva and Neil didn’t think they would be back to the aquarium so soon, but there was a certain school holiday event going on which piqued both the doctors’ interest.

And right now, Neil was staring at a pair of platypuses swimming about in the water the fish tank they lived in. There was a slight frown on his face as he tried to comprehend what he just heard. “Wait…they are mammals, right?”

Eva looked down at the information pamphlet again. “Yeah, they’re mammals.”

“But you said they lay _eggs_.”

“Yeah…” She looked back up just in time to see the pair of sleek-looking animals crawl back onto land for a moment. “Kinda fascinating actually.”

“But how can they lay eggs!?” Neil turned back to her, almost knocking a kid over. Eva quickly caught him to prevent that from happening, shotting him a glare as he continued to rant. “These things are mammals! They can’t lay eggs!”

“Well apparently they can!” Eva gave him a slight slap on the top of his head with the pamphlet. It didn’t hurt, but Neil still rubbed his head as Eva dragged him away to not get in the kids away to see the platypuses. Of course, the school holiday meant the place would be packed with children and their family. They really should have picked a better date to come here, but today was their only day off together during the event.

Resting their back against the wall at the back of the room, Neil plucked the pamphlet from Eva’s hand to have a better read over it. “Really,” he clicked his tongue. “Everything in here sounds like complete BS. I mean, look here!” he showed her one of the ‘Fun Facts’ printed on the folded paper.

“‘ _The Indigenous Australians have a dreamtime story saying platypuses are the descendants from the love between a water rat and a duck._ ’ A _water rat_ and a _duck_ , Eva! _That_ is _not_ how evolution works. All of this sounds like crap adults made to make their kids leave them alone.”

“It’s a legend. You don’t have to take this seriously,” Eva rolled her eyes before she snatched the pamphlet back to put it in her purse. “And the facts in here are mostly aimed for the kids anyway. So you don’t have to take it seriously.”

“Still sounds stupid,” Neil blew a raspberry as he laid back to watch the platypuses swim about from afar. Despite the him complaining so much though, Neil never thought he would ever see a real platypus. He never even thought about going to Australia either. But then again, his job sometimes allowed him and Eva to travel overseas. It was through their patients’ memories, but hey at least the trip was free, and they didn’t need to meet real poisonous snakes and spiders.

That reminded Neil something actually. Especially when he saw a kid running around with a platypus soft toy. “Look at the children hugging those abominations, not knowing how dangerous they are with those claws of theirs,” he whispered to Eva quietly, not getting a reply though. Blinking at the silence from his partner, he glanced at her to see what was wrong.

Eva’s dark eyes had a distant stare as she quietly watched the platypuses swim about, as if deep in thought. Her lips were in a straight line as she tilted her head to the side slightly, giving a soft sigh to herself. Neil felt a slight tug in his chest, wondering if she was remembering a certain case related to a platypus…

He couldn’t help it but let out an irritated sigh. They were supposed to be enjoying themselves, not thinking about their job. But then again, it was hard to forget about a case like Johnny’s…

“Ah, sorry,” Eva snapped out of her thoughts once he heard him. Glancing at her with questioning looks, she shook her head. “It’s nothing. We can go if you want.”

“Already?” Neil made a whining noise. Eva didn’t seem to notice and just nodded. “Fiiiiiiiiiine…”

As he turned around to leave, his eyes caught sight of something at the exit. A small stall, full of platypus related gifts ranging from pen to soft toys. Seeing that made Neil grin as an idea came to mind.

He was never the type to buy things from gift shops. But just this once. He could think up of an excuse to buy two of those abdominal soft toys.

~.~.~.~.~

It didn’t take long for them to return to the aquarium for the third time. It came out of nowhere even.

While driving back to Sigmund, after failing a case and getting chewed out by their patient’s family, Neil took an impulsively long detour back to the office. Eva didn’t notice what he was doing, keeping quiet and just stare out the window during most of the trip. It took until Neil drove down the parking lot of a certain aquarium did she realise something was wrong. And when that happened, it was too late for Eva to demand Neil to turn back. He just stated “Don’t wanna head back to the office yet.”

Exasperated, Eva mumbled some colourful words under her breathe as Neil found a place to park the car. Neil was surprised to hear her say such things after so many years of using fruits and vegetables in place for swear words, but even more surprised when she easily gave in and go along with his antics.

In all honesty, Neil felt sort of proud on how he got her to come along. Because he was scared for a moment she would steal the car keys to drive back to the office herself.

But since that didn’t happen, Neil ended up seeing Eva brighten up again, bit by bit as they made their way further into the aquarium. At first, she was being grouchy about how cold it was (they left their lab coats behind to avoid anyone’s gaze), but she soon came around when Neil pointed at the colourful fishes swimming around here and there. He even sucked in his pride and made some funny ‘fish faces.’ It failed for the first few times, but Neil saw her try to hide a laugh after his fifth attempt, in which he bobbed around her life a jellyfish for a moment.

He wouldn’t shut up about it, earning him an eyeroll from her. “See? If it weren’t for me,” Neil pointed at himself as he walked backwards to talk to Eva, “you would have stayed as an angry Grinch for the rest of your life!”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she shook her head, crossing her arms to keep herself from shivering anymore. Neil caught sight of that as she continued, “I was laughing at how a jellyfish bumped against each other. Not by you.”

“Oh?” he tilted his head, smirking a bit. “So just seeing those jellyfish, you start laughing?”

“Ah…” it looked like Eva just realised what she just said. “N-No! Of course not!”

“That’s clearly what you said!”

“Oh, buzz off!” Eva quickly walked passed him, letting out a haughty huff as she ignored his snickers. They enjoyed the rest of their visit, which ended with Eva actually buying something from the gift shop while Neil went to grab some hot drinks for them both. He was surprised what she got for him though.

“You sure you don’t regret buying two one-year passes to the aquarium?” Neil asked her again after they returned to the car, waving the small slip of paper in his hand.

Taking a sip of the drink Neil got for her, Eva gave him a nod. “Yeah. Just in case you decide to take another random detour to the aquarium again. You know? Just because you wanted to skip out on work?”

“Hey! I did that for you!”

“Yeah yeah,” Eva sighed before grabbing for her seatbelt, but then stopped. “Wait, what?”

“Ah!” Neil quickly turned away to put on his own seatbelt, refusing to look back at her as he whistled some random song to himself. He ignored Eva’s stares, but he couldn’t help it but glance back at her, using his glasses as his shield.

She had a dumbstruck look on her face, and Neil was trying very hard not to sweat bullets. However, he was surprised when Eva merely shrugged and smiled. “Well…I thank you for that then.”

Silence. “What?”

She gave him a look. “You heard me.”

And with that, Eva took the wheels and drove back to the office with Neil. He didn’t even realise she started the car, as he couldn’t think up a witty reply to what she said.

~.~.~.~.~

Thanks to Eva purchasing those passes, it became a thing for her and Neil to come back to the aquarium whenever they could. Neil never took another detour to the aquarium again; however, it just became a thing for them to come here whenever they shared a day off together. They sort of lost count on how many times they came here at this point, however, they knew they came here a lot now since the staffs working there could recognise the two.

To the point when they passed by a photo shop, they were now call out on dating again.

Neil spat out his coffee just as Eva splattered out how they were _not_ dating. “We’re just on our day off from work, sir,” she tried to maintain her composure as she spoke.

“Suuuuuuuuure,” the photographer sitting at the counter smirked. “But aren’t there other places for your two love birds to go to?” he waggled his eyebrows. And really, Neil just want to splash this crappy cup of coffee onto the guy’s smug face. And Eva would have love to have him do that too if she didn’t want to get sued.

Deciding to just push his glasses up, Neil cleared his throat. _Loudly._ “Look. We only like coming here because we got those one-year pass thing at the gift shop earlier.” Neil _so_ wanted to be snarky but couldn’t think up of anything right now. “It would be a waste if we don’t make a good use of them.”

“Sure,” the photographer snickered. Again, making Neil want to splash the coffee onto the guy’s face. “Anyway, you two have come here too many times, and never bought a photo from here!” he jabbed at the props behind him with his thumb. “Why don’t you two take a photo together for the memory? Y’know? Since you two love coming here so much.”

“We don’t really…” Eva tried to fish up some excuse to decline the offer. Both her and Neil knew he was just trying to make some money since no one was coming in to take these overly priced photos. Why did they have a photo shop here anyway? They already had their photos taken each time they came into the aquarium. And to waste even more money, they had the photos printed out and developed, as if expecting everyone to buy them. Really, wasn’t that a waste of even more money?

“Come on! I insist!” The photographer winked, starting to show off what he could offer. “I’ll give you a discount. Especially if you buy one of our special packages.”

Eva didn’t even want to look; however, she couldn’t bring herself to walk away either. Neil also seemed to feel the same, as he was looking through what kind of things came with the package. Some keychains of their choosing with the photo. A photo frame with their photo. An album. A digital copy of the photo as a bonus.

…Well…maybe just one.

Without them even realising, both Eva and Neil found themselves standing in front of a green background, both of them holding one soft toy in their hands. Neil was holding a soft toy shark, and Eva was holding a jellyfish. And yep, Neil saw the looks Eva was giving it from how cute it was. And she also saw the smug grin he had on.

“Don’t,” she quickly seethed under her breath. “Say. A word.”

“Wasn’t going to,” he whistled. And after a moment or two of them trying to not smile so awkwardly, they had their photos taken and printed out. They each had one copy, along with one keychain for their own. Neil’s keychain was of a shark. And Eva’s was a jellyfish. There were other varieties of keychains they could pick, but somehow, they just ended up picking these two.

“Not sure where I can put them,” Eva stared at her keychain after they sat down on a nearby bench. She and Neil compared the two keychains in their hands, their eyes on the same photos that were placed in two different frames of the keychain.

“Wow.” Neil finally spoke. “You look constipated.”

Instantly, Eva shot him a glare. “It’s your idea to take the damn photo!”

“I know!” he laughed, holding the keychain tight in his hand as he added “And I’m gonna keep this as proof that Eva Rosalene looks like a constipated monkey when she tries to smile.”

“Goddamit, Neil!” Eva leapt forth and tried to steal the keychain and the photo from him. He was laughing so loud, drawing in attention as Eva gave chase when he fled. He didn’t make it far though, because just when he rounded the corner, his two feet got tangled against each other and threatened to trip him over. He tried to catch himself, but Eva couldn’t stop in time and crashed into her partner at once, causing them both to fall down to the ground together.

Groaning, Neil rubbed his sore face as he groped the floor for his glasses. Once he found them and put them on, his ears perked when he heard giggling behind him. Looking back, Neil saw Eva was trying very hard to not die from laughing, one hand over her mouth, the other giving her small slaps on the shoulder for what he did.

Glasses falling off slightly, Neil watched Eva starting to break and let herself laugh aloud. He was stunned by how she’s just radiating with joy instead of giving him scowls for his stupidity. He felt his heart flutter a bit, treasuring this moment as it was so dear to him.

~.~.~.~.~

It was unusually quiet at the aquarium today. Maybe because it was the weekday, with everyone still at school or work during this time of the day. That and it was pouring outside, so the more reason for no one to come.

For what felt like hours, Eva was staring at the same fish tanks she always saw whenever she came to this aquarium, which contained the same ol’ jellyfishes bobbing about before her. Her dark eyes watched their movements, yet she couldn’t feel the same joy that always bubbled up inside her whenever she came here.

Taking a deep breath, Eva held the soft toy platypus Neil got for her close to her chest. She really wanted to believe the aquarium was supposed to cheer her up on any rainy day, however it was obvious Neil was also the reason that she always cheered up whenever she came here. It was Neil who started dragging her here. It was Neil who kept on joking around until she finally cracked under his persistence.  It was Neil who bought her this platypus (even though it was sort of inappropriate, the thought counted). And it was Neil who always made her laugh.

All because he had the ulterior motive to get her to have fun and forget about her work for a bit.

Eva couldn’t blame him though. Neil did mean well in his own way. She always noticed his attempts to calm her down with his bad jokes during the stressful moments, even saying uncharacteristically wise words when she showed a bit of her insecurity and weaknesses to him. And in all honesty, she was grateful to Neil’s attempts, even though she refused to admit it and choose to tell him off instead. His persistence was quite charming thought. She would admit that.

But sadly, both Eva and Neil weren’t together now. They were not even on talking terms. Eva still felt a slight flare inside her whenever she remembered how she found out Neil’s little secret with his painkillers and machine. And how he told her off on snooping around and dared to worry about his wellbeing.

What he said hurt her deeply, and Eva couldn’t forget how she just slapped his glasses off before stomping off. And it still hurt her as she tried to keep herself from crying.

She hated him. But hate herself more for never noticing and let things became like this. She missed his presence, his sarcastic stupidity, and how he put her wellbeing before his. And Eva seriously hated how she never did anything for him.

Sighing and trying to get herself to forget about Neil again, Eva gave up and continued along her way. It was not like if she stood here any longer she would magically forget about Neil and believe nothing ever happened between them. Maybe there was too much memories of them here that made her just as miserable before she came here.

Looking around, Eva just realised she’s almost at the exit, making her heart drop at the thought of leaving and still feeling like this. She tried to slowly drag her feet, but it was inevitable. The largest fish tank filled with all kinds of fish inside swimming around was in sight, telling Eva this was the last stop and the exit was just to het left.

As she debated on leaving now or just sit back to enjoy the view of the fishes swimming about, Eva’s caught the sight of someone sitting downstairs at the front. He didn’t notice her as his eyes were only on the fishes swimming around in the fish tank, his expression unreadable as a discarded soft toy platypus sat next to him. Swallowing the lump forming inside her throat, Eva quietly walked down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible as she double checked if this was really…

“Neil?”

The glasses wearing brunet jumped at the sound of his name called, looking back to see who it was. Eyes met, they both froze on the spot, not sure what to say. In fact, they hadn’t talked in ages. Pressing her lips together, Eva subconsciously held her platypus tighter when Neil’s eyes fell on it.

“You…brought that with you?”

Eva looked down at her platypus, then at his. “So did you.”

“Yeah…” with nothing else to say, Neil picked up his own soft toy and placed it on his lap before scooting over for Eva to sit down too. She didn’t object, taking her seat next to him without a word to say. Silence enveloped between them, tension still clearly in the air between them as Eva fiddled with her platypus’ paws for a bit. This was so uncomfortable, and the words Eva wanted to say couldn’t be contained much longer.

“So…” They both began, only to stop at once and look away. Shaking their heads, they tried again. “How are you…I mean…why don’t you go first…argh!”

Of all the times to be in sync with each other! Eva facepalmed and groaned, before trying again. _“How are you?_ ”

She must had sounded aggressive before Neil pulled back by how hard she was. And Eva winced at that. Fixing his glasses up, Neil shrugged. “I…Meh?”

“Just ‘meh’?” Eva raised an eyebrow. There was a groan.

“Fine. I have been jumping and glee and joy since the last time we talked,” he snapped. Eva didn’t say anything, but already Neil seemed to regret what he did. “No. I’ve actually been in the dumps.”

“You’re not the only one,” Eva sighed and leaned back against her seat a bit. They stopped talking again, but this time they couldn’t bring themselves to continue. They could have left, but their legs felt detached from the rest of their bodies.

They felt stuck. And it sucked so much that it made them feel worse.

“Eva…” Neil finally spoke again. She glanced over, a small frown on her face as she quietly waited for him. “Sorry.”

Another sigh. “Neil…”

“No. Let me finish,” he stopped her. “I have been mulling over this ever since you hit me across the room. You were right. I was stupid. Everything I ever did was stupid. And you had every right to be mad about it-”

“Wait, hold on!” Eva stopped him, but he wasn’t listening as his words started to heat up. “Look, I know what I was doing was bad, but I just can’t stop! You don’t even know what it is like to try and live through another day where you have no one to get along with. And the $#!*$ that I have been through isn’t even pleasant. You wouldn’t even understand how $#!**^ it is to keep on being reminded of everything you have done and just hate yourself from it! It isn’t pleasant and-”

A pair of dark hands came up and slapped both his cheeks to silence him. Neil didn’t even have the time to register to that as Eva pulled his face towards hers so then she could look him in the eyes. His glasses were slipping off, but he could clearly see how frustrated she was as she gritted her teeth angrily at him.

“Don’t you dare say I don’t understand,” she seethed out. “You’re not the only one who hates what was done in the past. That’s called having regrets and _dammit_ do I hate every bit of it.” She angrily wiped the tears that threatened to spill before she continued. “I…may sound really heartless right now, Neil, but I seriously know how it feels to hate yourself over what was done. I still do, but,” she looked at him properly, “but I try to make the best of it…not…just trying to fix it by using the machine as an experiment to remove it all…”

Neil winced at the mention of that, but he didn’t pull away. “I…sorry…” he looked away again. Eva didn’t try to make him look at her again, yet she didn’t want to pull away either. Before she could even do anything, he asked her “But…you don’t look like you feel the same. And even if you do, how do you even go through it…”

Silent for a moment, Eva’s hands left his face and settled for holding his hands. At first, she was hesitant to show that much affection, but she was soon grasping his hands in hers. Neil was surprised by this, looking at her as she explained.

“Well…I have other things to look forward to,” she said quietly, looking at their linked hands. “I have my sister and her family for one. And work isn’t that bad, especially with how Roxie and Eddie brings life to the party. And…” she paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words to say. “And…you’re here. I don’t feel as bad when you’re around.”

Silence. “You say it like without me you’re depressed.”

Another sigh. “Yeah.”

When Neil smirked at that, Eva couldn’t help it but smile at how a bit of his spunk came back. Pretty soon, they leaned onto each other, feeling comfortable within each other’s presence now and it felt just right.

“Sorry I left you alone,” he murmured, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand gently. “And sorry for telling you off when you found out.”

“Apologies accepted,” Eva nodded, humming a bit at his touch. Eyes closed, Eva gave another sigh before opening them again to look at the fishes still swimming about in the fish tank before them. “Neil?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you going to do now though?” she frowned a bit. Neil glanced at her at that, and she knew she didn’t need to elaborate what she meant.

“I…” words died in his mouth as he looked away. “I…I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to stay like this. But…it’s hard, Eva.”

She took a deep breath in. “But…are you willing to try?” she tried to ask as calmly as she could.

“I _want_ to,” he clarified. “But again: hard.”

Looking down at him, Eva could see the uncertainty Neil had. She gave his hand a soft squeeze, making him look up.

“If it’s alright…” she hesitated a bit, but went on, “If it’s alright, I’m still here…” she looked at him properly. “Like…I don’t know about you, but I’m fine when you and everyone else are around when I am down. It’s not much, but if you want to, I…”

“Eva…” Neil sat up properly to face her. Eva felt her heart pounding from what she said _and_ from how serious Neil looked. She couldn’t help it but feel worried. “I want you to…always be around, okay? …As pathetic as it sounds,” he added lamely. Smiling at that, Eva nodded.

“Alright,” they leaned onto each other again, glad to have that settled as well. “But once everything is over, we’re coming back here,” she gave a slight huff. “I don’t know about you, but coming her alone sucks.”

There was a laugh at that. “Deal.”

As they sat closer, the platypuses that sat on their laps slid off and rested against each other. There was a slight clinking sound as what was once keychains, now pendants, swayed against each other. Both Eva and Neil didn’t seem to notice, not wanting to leave yet now as they enjoyed a few more minutes together as they enjoyed the view of the fishes swimming around in front of them.

~.~.~.~.~

It took a while for them to come back, but once they returned, everything seemed to settle into place. Eva had looked after Neil through his worst moments after that day, and somehow, they seemed to have grown closer from that. It was hard to admit they actually felt that way, and calling their outings from then on _actual_ dates.

The aquarium now became a more special place to them. They still went back, but only for special occasions after their first _official_ date. The rest of their time together was to go to some place else, as they now wanted to do other things together.

Now, three years later, Neil was tailing behind Eva as she sort of skipped from one part of the aquarium to the next. It had been a long time since their last visit, and things seemed to have changed around here. Neil just hoped there wasn’t too much change. Because he had something planned for their third-year anniversary as a couple.

“There they are!” Eva rushed over to the new addition of a fish tank in the aquarium. Neil had to do a double take when it turned out all the jellyfishes were now moved to this one, and they were bobbing along with the other fishes and sharks in it. He was impressed by this…and even more nervous because this made his task for today even more difficult. It was hard enough with how excited Eva was being, but now this?

“Neil! C’mon!”

“Coming!” Neil quickly went to catch up to Eva. He couldn’t blame how excited she was. She was always easily enchanted by the place and everything was so new to her. It was almost like their first visit here, and Neil couldn’t help it but smile at that.

Standing in front of the gigantic fish tank, Neil looked over to see how Eva’s eyes light up as she admired everything inside it. The way she looked was just…breathtaking.

“Like what you see?” Neil gave her a playful nudge, which she gave back with a small giggle. “You know, I can’t believe we still come back here so many times. We have other places we can go to, but we just wound up back…here.”

“Well…many things did happen here,” Eva gave a hum. “Mostly happy thing. And some of them were sad things…but I still think they’re worth remembering.”

“Because they’re that special?” he asked her.

“Of course. It’s because you took me here in the first place that we became like…this?” she pointed at themselves. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“I’m not gonna complain either,” Neil shrugged as he stepped back to admire her more. She was still captivated by the jellyfishes swimming about, and with her smiling like that, he felt the moment was just right.

“Eva?” he began to kneel down.

“Yeah?”

“I…I have a question,” he tried to calm down as he fished a small velvet box out of his pocket. He was so nervous, but he needed to do this. Opening the velvet box to show off a beautiful ring inside, Neil just blurted out “ _Evawillyou marry_ …me…?”

All words died in his mouth when he realised that the love of his life was not even looking at him. She was too busy staring at the jellyfishes to even bother listening to Neil properly. Everything started to fall apart around him as he believed that Eva wasn’t even interested in being with Neil that way…

“Mummy mummy look!” He heard a little girl squeal nearby. “Someone is proposing!”

Before Neil could even get back up and hide the ring, Eva already snapped out of it and looked down to see what Neil was doing. She saw everything: how he kneeled down on one knee, his hands out to show off the wedding ring to her. It only took one second for her to realise what was going on…and what she just did.

“Oh my God…Neil…I…” she gasped, stepping back and covering her mouth with her hands. All alarms started to ring in Neil’s head as he took her answer as a no, so he quickly closed the ring box and put it in his pocket before he started to ramble.

“No wait. Never mind. Forget it. That was a stupid idea. Forget I did anything stupid a minute ago. Just enjoy your jellyfishes and we can be on our-”

A pair of hands came up to pull his face towards Eva’s as she leaned in to kiss him on the lips, effectively shutting him up. They stayed like that for a while, the crowd around them cheering and whistling at the two until Eva pulled back, the biggest smile on her lips.

“I-I’m sorry I ruined your finest moment, but…” she let out a laugh, nodding, “Yes! Yes, I accept! I’ll marry you!”

Her answer sent Neil up and flying, literally. He leapt forth and hugged Eva closely, giving out the loudest cheer ever as he laughed with her. He didn’t know he could feel this happy! Pulling back, Neil looked at Eva more closely as she continued to laugh.

“I'm so happy,” she admitted to him.

“You're supposed to say ‘I love you.’”

She rolled her eyes.

“You're just saying that because you don't want to say it first,” she flicked her fingers at his forehead.

He didn’t complain as he embraced her to kiss her again. She accepted it of course, returning with just as much affection. They were in their own little world, with the crowds cheering and the swimming about in the background.

**Author's Note:**

> OMG THIS TOOK ME A WHOLE MONTH TO WRITE. BYE.
> 
> Might write their official first date as a bonus in the future.
> 
> Special thanks to Mari (Compactor), Star, Dragon and everyone else on the Discord server for playing around with this prompt, listening to me rant about it and kept on change things in this fic for a whole month.
> 
> I hope you all liked it as much as I liked reading it!


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